Kobach wins Kansas Secretary of State

StoryDiscussionKobach wins Kansas Secretary of State
Chris Zavadil/Fremont Tribune Fremonttribune.com | Posted: Wednesday, November 3, 2010 11:00 am | (0) Comments

Republican Kris Kobach won the Kansas Secretary of State job Tuesday, beating three other candidates with 59 percent of the total vote.

Democrat Chris Biggs earned 37 percent of the vote. Two other candidates received 2 percent each.

Kobach is the attorney who wrote Fremont's illegal immigration ordinance and is defending it against lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He also wrote other immigration laws across the country.

The suits are currently sitting before the Nebraska Supreme Court awaiting a possible answer on a question of whether the city exceeded its authority under state law in passing the ordinance.

Kobach told the Tribune in June that he would defend Fremont even if elected secretary of state.

"It's important that Fremont have legal counsel with experience in this area," Kobach said at the time. "Obviously, I've defended these statutes all over the country.

"I would hasten to add that this is a very specialized area of law," he said. "The number of attorneys in the country who have experience in this area I could count on one hand."

The Fremont City Council voted July 27 to suspend implementation of the ordinance until 14 days after the lawsuits are settled.

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